Alternate interpretations
of Matthew 25:34-45

Interpretations from the Internet.
A Islamic hadith with similar content.

Some alternative interpretations from the Internet:

The Internet is a rich source of interpretations of this passage. We studied
five Evangelical and one Roman Catholic web site.

Some hold the rather chauvinistic belief that all born-again Christians follow the
Golden Rule and are compassionate towards the needy,
while all who are not born-again Christians take a calloused attitude towards the disadvantaged and ignore
their suffering. Studies by Barna Research seem to indicate that this belief
does not reflect reality. The behavior of born-again Christians is almost
identical to non-born again Christians and followers of other religions.

Boston Christian Bible Study Resources states:

"... what Matt[hew] 25 brings out is the correlation between one's salvation
status and one's behavior. Is this teaching salvation by works? Indeed
we might come to that conclusion if we hadn't read the rest of the
Bible. In reality what happens is that those who have been born of God
naturally love the children of God. This is not performance based
salvation, but salvation based performance. One's works are an effect of
(and therefore indication of) one's salvation status, rather than being
a cause of one's salvation." 1

Bible.org writes that:

"... works are the fruit that demonstrates the reality of the conversion of one's heart. The love shown by these deeds
of mercy springs from true faith. As Walvoord affirms, 'What is presented here is not the basis or ground of salvation but the evidence
of it. Accordingly, while works are not the ground of justification for salvation, they can be the fruit or evidence of it.' ... it is
clear from this parable that they are judged by their works and sent to hell for not having the works - which represent faith..."
2

Bible Tools writes

"... the sheep have love through a regular infusion of the Spirit of
God. ... A godly life always comes down to the basic things. The sheep are
simply unconsciously and unaffectedly good, kind, sympathetic, and
concerned, attributes of character that cannot be feigned. 3

The implication is that the unsaved -- the goats -- have none of these fine
qualities.

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Other web sites
suggest a different interpretation. They assert that the phrase "these my brethren"
does not refer to all of the disenfranchised, hungry, naked, sick, and/or
imprisoned people of today's world. Rather, they initially consisted of only the
twelve disciples that Jesus selected in the first century CE
to assist him in his ministry. In the 21st century, Jesus' "brethren"
would be all those who evangelize; the sheep are those
who accept the Gospel, accept Jesus into their hearts, and are saved.

Xenos Christian Fellowship does admit that this passage is "...a
challenge to interpret." At first glance, it seems to teach that one
can work one's way to Heaven through good works. This conflicts with many other
passages where Paul and other authors stress that we are saved through faith, not works. Galatians 2:16 and Ephesians
2:8-9 are two examples. Xenos continues:

"Good works (like the ones mentioned in Matthew 25) are a
result of
our salvation and not a condition for it (Ephesians 2:8-10). For this
reason, no matter how important caring for the needy is, it plays no part
whatever in our salvation." 4

Jesus is here referring to how people of
all nations responded to the twelve disciples as they spread out around the world
teaching the gospel to countless Jews and Pagans during the middle of the 1st
century CE. Some of the public accepted the message, and
are considered sheep; others rejected it and are goats.

Bible Gateway writes:

"In the context of Jesus' teachings, especially in the context of Matthew,
... this parable addresses not serving all the poor but receiving the gospel's
messengers. ... [Jesus] thus judges the nations based on how they have responded
to the gospel of the kingdom already preached to them before the time of his
kingdom. 5

Looking at the Roman Catholic perspective, the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops has a web site featuring the New American Bible
translation. A footnote to Matthew 25 acknowledges that:

"A difficult and important question is the identification of these
least brothers. Are they all people who have suffered hunger, thirst, etc.
... or a particular group of such sufferers? Scholars are divided in their
response and arguments can be made for either side. But leaving aside the
problem of what the traditional material that Matthew edited may have meant,
it seems that a stronger case can be made for the view that in the
evangelist's sense the sufferers are Christians, probably Christian
missionaries whose sufferings were brought upon them by their preaching of
the gospel. The criterion of judgment for all the nations is their treatment
of those who have borne to the world the message of Jesus, and this means
ultimately their acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself ..." 6

This is the only commentary among the many that we studied that suggests that
there may be more than one possible interpretation of this passage.

A Islamic hadith containing beliefs similar to that expressed in Matthew 25's Sheep and Goats passage:

Zia H. Shah, MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times quoted a hadith -- a saying of the Prophet Muhammad:

"Indeed, Allah will say to his servant when He will be taking account of him on the Day of Judgment, ‘O’ son of Adam, I was hungry and you did not feed me.’ He will answer: ‘How could I feed you? You are the Lord of the worlds!’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that my servant so and so who is the son of so and so felt hunger, and you did not feed him. Alas, had you fed him you would have found that (i.e. reward) with Me.’ ‘O’ son of Adam, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink.’ He will reply: ‘How could I give You drink? You are the Lord of the worlds!’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that my servant so and so, the son of so and so was thirsty and you did not give him drink. Alas, if you had given him, you would have found that (i.e. reward) with me.’ ‘O’ son of Adam, I became sick and you did not visit Me.’ He will answer: ‘How could I visit You? You are the Lord of the worlds!’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that my servant so and so, the son of so and so became sick and you did not visit him. Alas, had you visited him, you would have found Me with him.’ 7

Ref: USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 32, Hadith 6232.

References used:

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